Obama moving to limit fishing access – ESPN

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And – what the hell am I talking about?

Who’s side is Massachusetts DMF on anyway? All the fishermen or just a select few? I’m gonna have to go with the latter, because the former don’t seem to be “in” on what’s looking to be the future of groundfish in Massachusetts……

Remember the CCZ and how it was created? If you don’t, l’ve explained it a few times, but for your sake, I’ll say it again- It was created as a reaction to gill netters throwing incredible amounts of fish away there. Nothing more, nothing less, period. DMF was quoted as saying so much in CFN. I don’t think the article is still online? DMF director Diodati told the Marine Fisheries Commission that DMF was getting a lot of criticism from NMFS about the greatly escalated cod landings in state waters, which were almost entirely affected by gill netters.

Now- with catch shares about to become the federal management system, DMF is looking at instituting a similar system for our states waters groundfishery and according to recent statements by Mr. Diodati, the state waters groundfishery, based on recent landings, is primarily 20+ gill net vessels, DUH!!!! Since the CCZ and the creation of the SWGE, pretty much all the landings are from gill netters and a few draggers. There hasn’t been much opportuinity for skiff fishermen to get to the fish because the places the fish are in in state waters are all closed while the fish are there.

This is just more of the same from MA DMF, starve the hook guys, let them have a permit, but no fishery, let them have a permit, but no value. Let them have a permit, but with less access and lower landing limits.
Maybe I am crazy? But I think they want us to go away, but can’t actually just eliminate us altogether, so they’ll just let us starve to death?

What do you think?

Lubchenco holds firm on May 1 ‘catch share’ launch – GloucesterTimes.com, Gloucester, MA

“I got nothing; I’ll be catching one third of the fish I caught previously,” said Capt. Joe Orlando. “Because of the reallocation, we got screwed.”

“I’m out of business,” said Corrado Buccheri, who owns two boats.

“I’m in the 2 percent who are supposed to make it, and I’m not going to make it,” said Richard Burgess, who owns 11 permits and four boats.

Every spring, the squid come to Nantucket Sound, for a few weeks they hug the beaches from Falmouth to Chatham. For a week at the end of April, the draggers are allowed to fish inside the three mile line between Mashpee and Hyannis, after that they have to stay outside the three mile line, if they are east of Succonesset Shoal. The draggers have been allowed this one week inside since 1990, when the DMF began to allow them to fish using squid mesh inside the line, because a few boats had already been doing it in previous years and DMF wasn’t able to enforce the rule prohibiting from doing so, as strange as that sounds. You can read where it says precisely this, it’s in a report from the DMF - The Loligo squid fishery in Nantucket and Vineyard Sound Page 15.

The trawlers tow an area about 5 1/2 miles x 2 miles over and over for a week. See the chart inserted -

Inside Squid Tow

Some years there are only a few boats and some years there as many as 40 trawlers. How many depends on how early the squid arrive and how thick they are, word of a good run spreads quick. In the last few years the squid that show up inside have been scarce and the number of boats dragging has been limited, mainly to the few local boats from Hyannis and Falmouth and Menemsha.

As you’d likely imagine, jigging for squid in this is popular, but not very productive until after May 1’st when the draggers have left, usually it takes a day or two for things to settle down from all the disturbance of the draggers towing back and forth between Colliers Ledge and Succonesset Shoal all day for a week, it’s a small area and the week of dragging activity keeps the squid from settling in 1 spot for very long. Once the draggers have left though, squid are able to be jigged and the area becomes an eclectic mixture of sport boats, party boats, six pack charters, commercial jiggers and sea bass potters who also must wait until the trawlers are out of the area before they put their gear in, or risk losing it.

The draggers continue to catch squid after May 1’st, further out in the sound, most years well into June and most boats do well, getting thousands of pounds a day for several weeks, perhaps a month. The inshore area, this little area between Osterville and Mashpee, only sees any good numbers for a week or ten days and again, not until the draggers have left. There are a lot more fishermen who fish this area who aren’t draggers, than there are, but we have to give up this week because they are there. For twenty years the draggers have had this week open to them in this area, but to a certain degree, at the expense of all the others who would also access this area and not just the other fishermen, but the squid themselves, which never really get a chance to settle in until they leave and sometimes don’t until after other fish arrive like scup, seabass, stripers, blues and fluke, all go there to eat squid, which also keep the squid from having very long to themselves in this very small place.

I think it’s time we looked at re-closing this area year round to squid trawlers. The area had been closed for 70 years, basically since we’ve been dragging with powered vessels until 1990. Considering how many more local fishermen, both recreational and commercial would benefit with an enhanced squid presence inshore and the lingering effects of the attraction of more bait to other fish, we should keep this area off limits to Mobile gear fishermen. During years of an abundance of squid in late April, many of the boats that show up to drag aren’t from the area, some are even from out of state. I think that keeping this area off limits to them will be of a greater benefit to more people, locally.

A few years ago the trawlermen attempted to get this area left open to them for the first two weeks of May, they were unsuccessful though. At the time, due to a procedurally improper motion made by the Marine Fisheries Commission, they almost got to fish inside for a week in May, but efforts by myself and others, convinced the Wildlife commissioner Tom French, to overturn the MFC decision and the area remained closed to squid trawlers in May. Now if we can just get that last week in April re-closed, we’d be all set. It’s not as if the draggers wouldn’t still catch any squid, which they do all during May and into early June, it’s just that the rest of us, which is a lot more than the few draggers who would be excluded, need this area and the availability of squid in it far outweighs the quick buck the draggers get there at our expense.

Mind you I said FISHING and not FISH…..
I’m sitting here listening to “talk radio” on our local “news” station WKTK. The lead news story this AM? The story about the great white sharks that were tagged off Monomoy last year. There’s a lot going on with fisheries management that is newsworthy, like – Senior NOAA enforcement agent Jones shredding documents and NOAA chief Lubchenco’s visit to Gloucester and the US supporting CITES listing for tuna. Nothing about any of these from our local “news” station…..This is Cape Cod and we do have a lot of fishermen here, so I would think WXTK would think news about fishing would be something they’d feature more often and prominently.

This seems to be a reflection of the public’s apparent apathy towards fishing and fishermen as opposed to how they feel about fish.

I wrote the station a note just now asking why they thought the sharks were more newsworthy? I’m betting I won’t get a response. I’ll be sure to let you know if I do.

U.S. Backs Proposed Trading Ban on Bluefin Tuna – NYTimes.com

“We recognize that the parties to ICCAT took some unprecedented steps,” Strickland said. “However, in light of the serious compliance problems that have plagued the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean fishery and the fact that the 2010 quota level adopted by ICCAT is not as low as we believe is needed, the United States continues to have serious concerns about the long-term viability of either the fish or the fishery.”

This is troubling. Another poor decision made by our federal employees, acting in the interest of an agenda on behalf of anti for profit domestic fishing ENGO’s. Canada and The USA have been in tight control of their GBFT fisheries and have been compliant with the International management regulations, yet this stands to threaten the economic viability of our domestic BFT fishery, which is sustainable and managed well, VS. the W Europeans who continue to be out of compliance and have overharvested BFT manifold, for years now. Clearly there is an agenda.

There is still further action needed for a CITES listing to take place, but in the meantime, this lack of support for our fishermen and the people involved, by our federal govt. adds to the seeming epidemic mismanagement of our fisheries and the breadth of the influence of these so called conservation groups like PEW who use their money to malign our LAW ABIDING FISHERMEN who have fished responsibly rather than actually using it to mitigate the causes of GBFT overfishing, namely European fishing interests manipulation of political interests acting to continue allowing the overharvest. Their money would be much better spent there, where it would have a direct effect, much more so than this impotent and anti American act from our US Dept of Fish and Wildlife ASSt director Strickland.

In Massachusetts, we mange our summer flounder fishery to be fished primarily during the summer months, which is different than other states, who mainly catch their fluke farther offshore in winter months. This summer fishery is conducted in state waters, primarily in Nantucket and Vineyard Sounds. There’s also a Nantucket run and some boats fish, mainly draggers, out of the island during the season. The directed summer season is traditionally, June 10 and it is open 5 days per week, Sunday – Thursday, no fishing on Fri or Sat, until the summer quota is reached.

In Vineyard Sound, where the majority of our fluke are caught, the fleet is mixed, a dozen or so day boats and a fleet of fifty – seventy five boats, commercial rod and reel fishing and another fifty recreational fishing along side, mostly on Lucas Shoal, there are party boats some days and a handful of six pack charters too, most days. Vineyard Sound is a busy place on a nice summer day, it’s the main drag between NY and points East, like Nantucket, mega yachts and pairs of big sports are running one way or another all day long.

The commercial fishery regulations for fluke in Massachusetts, took their biggest change with respect to the summer fishery, in 1999, when the landing limits for hook fishing was reduced to 200 pounds to protect the interest of trawl fishermen, who in 1997 had petitioned for a reduction to 25 pounds pounds which MA DMF would not support but later (99)supported a reduction to 200 and also to limit entry to the fishery. Since this time there have been no new entrants to the fishery. By regulation fluke permits may be transferred if they are endorsed to a CAP (net) permit, or also to a lobster permit, but not allowed for hook gear permits. By default, there are less hook permits today than there were in 1997, but net permits numbers have stayed nearly the same, because they can be transferred and have been.

This year, fluke landings are going to be liberalized coastwide. This means more fluke for everyone. Fluke are close to being declared restored and soon we will be allowed to harvest much more than we have in recent years. All things considered, this is great news, the last ten years have been a rough road and many of us didn’t make it. The last ten years have seen access to fisheries on the whole reduced to a fraction of what they had been. This years increased fluke quota as well as the news that sea bass is to be doubled are both a ray of hope in what looks to be a dimming future. Catch shares for ground fish begin May 1 and boats with coastal access permits for fluke will likely fish in greater numbers, saving their groundfish share for when fluke will be closed., so the larger quota we are getting, may yield the same or even less days fishing for the fluke. I hope not, but I have to wonder. I know that if I had a trawler and I had a fluke permit, I’d save my groundfish weight for the fall and the spring.

Sure, fluke is restored, but how many more folks will want to fish for them who ordinarily wouldn’t, but will have to now to make up for not a large enough catch share? I wonder about that too. Not just fluke either, but squid, sea bass and scup could also be impacted from displaced groundfishermen, looking for other incomes from the loss of the ones they previously had before catch shares. Most fishermen who rely on fishing as their main or sole source of income will do anything they can to remain fishing, who can blame them? Catch shares are coming, like a train that’s going somewhere most of us don’t want to go and most of us probably aren’t going to come back from.

A summary of the fluke regulations and the various regulatory changes 1996-2007 is here-

http://capecodfisherman.net/frhs.html

It’s 3:00 AM and my alarm hasn’t gone off yet, I quietly slip out of bed so I don’t wake my wife and down the stairs to the kitchen where I make a quick coffee. I grab a few things and go jump in my truck, my trailer is already attached and head for Mashpee Mobil station, where I’ll top off my tank and get a fresh coffee. I get to the Falmouth boat ramp around 4:30, I’m the first person there today. I back the boat in and tie it off to the dock, get it started and turn on all the electronics, including the radio, which is already alive with the Woods Hole draggers BS’ng about this and that. I park my truck as another guy who is like me, a commercial hook fisherman that trailers his boat, pulls into the ramp area ready to launch too, we chat a minute and I head down to the boat to go to work.

It’s a decent AM and the ride to the fluke is only 6 miles, about a 15 minute ride, the sun is peaking over the horizon behind me and birds are playing on the water along the way. The MV ferry, Island Home is moving across the sound headed for Woods Hole, I slow for it’s wake. When I get to the shoal I am going to fish, the tide is running East so I go to the West end of it and set the rods out and begin a drift. The first drift is good, 26 fish, mostly mediums, a few selects, but when I make the same drift again, only 7 fish this time so I go looking around a bit. I settle on a spot and it yields another 44 fish after 3 long drifts, now the tides letting go so it’s time to eat breakfast and cut baits etc., to be ready for the next tide. By the time the west tide gets rolling it’s 9:30 and theres a fresh breeze building from the SW, the drifts are stalled by the wind so the fishing is slow, it takes me till 12:00 PM to get the rest of my limit of 200 pounds.The ride in is slower than the ride out was, the tide is aginst me and the wind has built a nice roll going past Nobska, which slows me down even more, by the time I get back to the ramp it’s already 1 o’clock and the docks are alive with tourists, I can hear the dull roar of the Route 28 traffic a few blocks away. The ride back home is stressful, bumper to bumper traffic with a 22′ boat in tow isn’t much fun. By the time I get home it’s 2:30 and I unhook the boat, get all the fluke out of my chill tank with a net and pack them into 2 totes with plenty of ice for the ride to meet the fish truck in Hyannis at the Ocean Street dock.

The Truck isn’t at the dock when I get there and only one of the draggers who will take out to it are waiting, which means the other boats either got out late or are having trouble getting their 300 pounds, yes, the draggers are allowed to take 300, they petitioned the DMF succesfully, in 1997 to reduce the hook limit to 200 pounds and it’s been that way ever since. I’ll have to wait for the truck.,,Eventually the truck and the other boats show up and we take out one at a time and take some ice for tomorrow. By the time I get home, It’s 5:45, almost time to go back to bed………I’ll repeat this process similarly for four more days, until Friday, when we are not allowed to fish, but do you think I can sleep? I need to change my racor, figure out why my fish finder keeps turning off every time I key my microphone and change the oil in my truck, maybe I can sleep Saturday?

This is a typical day for me for the last twenty years.

There’s a lot more scenarios I live besides this, I”l get into those in future post’s……..

‘No one is going to make it’ – GloucesterTimes.com, Gloucester, MA

“It is pretty clear that the design of the sector system by (the New England Fisheries Management Council) is not working for you guys; the economic and social consequences of the transition are horrendous,” Lubchenco said. “We have a lot of work to do to address what was voiced. We are not scrapping it, but we can refine it. We can make it better.”

It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve written anything, but I think I’m back on track, ready anew to annoy.

Discrimination in fishing? What am I saying?

Let’s start with the news piece below, about the meeting arranged by Mayor Kirk of Gloucester between Comrade Jane Lubchenco fish boss of NOAA and 30 hand picked (by mayor Kirk) fishermen. Who will those fishermen be and how did Ms. Kirk decide who to pick? Will there be any recreational fishermen included? How about any guys who aren’t draggers or gill netters? I doubt it. Why?

More to the point-
Explain the disparity in landing limits in the fluke and sea bass fisheries here in Massachusetts, imposed on the hook fishermen? Some of the hookers have more history than some of the trappers but the trappers get 500 pounds and the hooks only get 200, they both pay thirty dollars for the permit, so what gives ?
How do you explain the fact that you cannot transfer a fluke permit endorsed to a hook fisherman’s small boat permit, but you can if you hold a lobster or coastal access permit? By default, unless the regulation determining who can and who can’t transfer a fluke permit changes, eventually there won’t be a hook fishery for fluke in Massachusetts anymore. Does this sound like discrimination to you? It does to me.

It’s odd, at least to me, that the gear with the best track record of being able to be used conservatively, that is able to fish and not affect substantial bycatches and subsequent discards, rod and reel or hand lines, is the one that is always getting the short end of the stick. You’d think it would be given credit for it’s ability to be effective without the less desirable attributes of the other gears, but it isn’t.

I understand the gill net and the draggers and the trappers points of view. Many of them are lifelong fishing and see hook guys as not being “real fishermen”. The DMF has treated the hook fishery likie a redheaded step-child too, policy after policy that allows fishing but at a lesser level or lesser access. It’s unfortunate that DMF hadn’t regulated the hook access as equal to the other gears 20 years ago, we’d have far less problems than we do now if they had. At some point DMF is going to have to confront this issue. The sooner,
the better, if you ask me.

I’ve been down this road more than once with our DMF. At this point I’ve become a pariah and DMF admin’s have a dim view of my stance on their treatment of hook fishermen, but that doesn’t bother me, what does bother me is that those of us who are hook fishermen aren’t getting equal access to the fisheries.